Monday, November 12, 2007
Best Bets
New Chuck (NBC, 7pm; also on Sat at 8pm)
New How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 7pm)
New Everybody Hates Chris (CW, 7pm)
New Heroes (NBC, 8pm; also on G4 this weekend)
New Samantha Who? (ABC, 8:32pm)
New Journeyman (NBC, 9:01pm)
New Weeds (Showtime, 9pm and 9:30pm)
Primetime Grid
| Mon | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | Dancing with the Stars | Samantha Who? | The Bachelor | |||
| CBS | How I Met Your Mother | Big Bang Theory | Two and a Half Men | Rules of Engagement | CSI: Miami | |
| NBC | Chuck | Heroes | Journeyman | |||
| FOX | Prison Break | K-Ville | Local Programming | |||
| CW | Everybody Hates Chris | Aliens in America | Girlfriends | The Game | Local Programming | |
| ESPN | Monday Night Countdown | Football: 49ers at Seahawks | ||||
| Show | Brotherhood Rerun | Weeds | Weeds | |||
News & Notes
I wasn’t sure how much I’d cover the WGA strike, but I’ve read some good stuff this past week and thought I’d pass some of it along.
Consider this a special “WGA Strike” edition of ye olde picks. Will get back to regular TV picks tomorrow.
So far the best explanation I’ve seen of the WGA strike is written by Ed Bernero (showrunner and writer/producer of Criminal Minds), it’s worth a look. Others favor this video from the WGA as an explanation; the WGA is regularly posting videos to YouTube, many of them feature writers or actors whose work you probably know.
Marshall Herskovitz posted an interesting piece titled “Are Corporate Suits Ruining TV?” in which he says basically that “network control and media consolidation are wringing the creativity out of entertainment.” Herskovitz (along with Ed Zwick) brought us the fine television shows thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, and Once and Again.
Damon Lindelof (of Lost) has an op-ed in the New York Times that is excellent, even if it starts out sounding like he’s blaming TiVo for the situation (he doesn’t really, honest).
Josh Whedon (of Firefly, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has posted good stuff about the strike to Whedonesque (you can find links to his recent comments from his profile, and here’s a link to his posts).
Shawn Ryan (of The Shield, The Unit) sent out an email about why he’s not working; at this point most showrunners aren’t working on their shows at all.
Michael Muhney (who played “Sheriff Lamb” on Veronica Mars) posted to Livejournal about stopping by the big WGA rally on Friday. The wga_supporters community on Livejournal is worth a look.
My favorite places to read up on what’s going on are probably United Hollywood, Deadline Hollywood Daily, pamie.com, Variety WGA Strike Blog, and News From Me (Mark Evanier’s blog).
I haven’t much cared for the coverage in Entertainment Weekly thus far, but Mark Harris wrote an excellent piece that is pretty darn honest about the WGA (and problems it has) while also explaining why this strike is so important.
Some fans from Whedonesque brought pizza to writers on the picket lines, they’ve gone on to put together the site Fans4Writers.com which is worth a look. It’s for all fans of television who support the strike (not just fans of Joss Whedon’s shows). They’ve put together an excellent page of links to more info about the strike– from news blogs to fan efforts to the weblogs and journals of writers, and so on.
I suppose by writing that I support the WGA I risk that some outlets may stop sending me press materials, but I’ve never claimed that I’m an unbiased journalist here– I’m a fan (albeit one who has written about TV almost every day for close to ten years whose stuff is read by thousands of people each day). As a lifelong fan of TV, I value the people who create the characters and write the stories. For the sake of everyone, I hope the strike ends sooner rather than later.
Primetime
See the grid above. Everything is new and as regularly scheduled, pretty much. By now you probably know which shows you watch regularly.
Monday Daytime
Thanksgiving cheesecakes, Heidi Klum, David Boreanaz (of Bones, Angel), Ingrid Hoffman on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).
Guest co-host Laura Ingraham; with Sherri Shepherd’s visit to the ABC Super Soap Weekend, lots more “hot topics” than usual, and the beginning of “budget week” on The View (ABC, check your local listings).
Ellen visits a maternity ward, Jennie Garth and Derek Hough, James Denton (of Desperate Housewives), Chris Brown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Martha’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Menu” on Martha (syndicated, check your local listings).
Bobby Flay and round 2 of “So You Think You Can Cook?” on The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Bisexuality and Tila Tequila” on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Fan Dreams Come True with Celine Dion” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings).
“House of Judgment, Part 1″ on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).
Tuesday Daytime
Dustin Hoffman, Emeril Lagasse on Live with Regis and Kelly (syndicated, check your local listings).
Budget Week continues, celebrate Whoopi Goldberg’s birthday; guests are Bill O’Reilly and Marc Cohn on The View (ABC, check your local listings).
Behind-the-scenes with Ellen on Deal or No Deal, singing Taco Bell employee Donnie Lamar Harden, Heidi Klum, Sean Casey (of Storm Chasers) on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
Someone wins a car and a block party, Rachel Weisz, more Thanksgiving tips, secret sources for beautiful candles on Martha (syndicated, check your local listings).
Paula Deen, women test some exercise machines, Thanksgiving soup on The Rachael Ray Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Dating Undercover” on The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
“Knock Knock– It’s Nate!” on Oprah (syndicated, check your local listings). Nate Berkus shares more design wisdom; plus Giada De Laurentis with holiday secrets.
“Will Fights” on Dr. Phil (syndicated, check your local listings).
